Brandon Woodruff might not be ready for Opening Day...and that's okay

Just over one month remains before the Milwaukee Brewers open the 2026 regular season with a home game against the Chicago White Sox. It's the first Opening Day the Brewers will play at home since the 2021 season, and their retractable roof ensures that baseball will be played regardless of the weather on March 26.

However, while baseball is a guarantee, the Brewers' Opening Day starter is still up in the air. Milwaukee traded Freddy Peralta, who was the team's Opening Day starting pitcher in each of the last two seasons, leaving the Brewers with a question mark when it comes to who will get the ball first when the season kicks off next month.

The leading candidate is certainly Brandon Woodruff. The 33-year-old Woodruff, who is entering his ninth season in MLB, agreed to the team's qualifying offer just at the beginning of the offseason, returning to Milwaukee for what is hopefully a healthy 2026 campaign.

However, Woody is smartly easing back into things this spring. Not only are there lingering concerns about the impact of the major shoulder surgery that kept Woodruff out for the entire 2024 season, but he sustained a lat injury in mid-September that put a slight delay in his offseason plans. That delay could impact Woodruff's ability to reprise his role as the Brewers' Opening Day starter for the first time since the 2021 season.

Brandon Woodruff's 2026 Opening Day status "up in the air" as he eases into Spring Training

Just moments ago, MLB.com Brewers' beat writer Adam McCalvy caught up with Woodruff after his live bullpen session and discussed his first few days of Spring Training.

In the video above, after Woodruff talks about how his number one priority is putting together a healthy season in 2026, McCalvy smartly asks if that goal will impact the veteran right-hander's ability to start on Opening Day, to which Woodruff replies "I think it's too early to say right now," before going on to say that his Opening Day status is "up in the air."

Woodruff isn't too far behind the rest of the Brewers pitchers, especially if he does get into game action in the next week or so, meaning he could realistically stay on his current timeline and still be ready for Opening Day. However, as Woody clearly notes: Opening Day is not the priority this year. Rather, Woodruff wants to be available for the postseason, after missing out on each of the Brewers' last three trips to the playoffs.

In some ways it's a disheartening development for Brewers fans; seeing Woodruff on the bump on Opening Day would be a welcomed sight for the Milwaukee faithful. However, in other ways it's a very encouraging development for the Brewers. The team and Woodruff are both acknowledging that Opening Day is just one game -- a very popular and heavily publicized game -- but still just one game at the end of the day. The games that matter far more than one in March are the ones that occur in October, and if delaying Woodruff's start to the 2026 season by a couple of weeks increases the likelihood that he will be able to pitch in the postseason, it would be wise for the Brewers to take that route.

Woodruff certainly didn't rule out the possibility of being the Brewers' Opening Day starter next month, and if everything goes well in the meantime, it's very likely he will end up on the bump on March 26. However, if there's even a little doubt from either Woody or the Brewers' coaches that the veteran righty isn't ready for Opening Day, there's nothing wrong with delaying his start to the season by a few weeks to ensure he's healthy when it matters most.